Day: July 18, 2019

AZQCueU2 — Society

Fandango14 Comments

4CD32C7C-2AD4-41CF-8DB9-801F1BE25E90I have been tagged by Punam, at Paeansunpluggedblog, for this game on quotes started by Rory, A Guy Called Bloke. The topic is SOCIETY. It is being played alphabetically. Each person has to post a quote on society by a person whose surname (last name) begins with the letter assigned to them. You can check out more details here.

Rory took the letter A

Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man’s life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self too.” — Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Paula took B

“The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” — James Baldwin

King Ben’s Grandma took C

“To me, the progress of society consists in nothing more than in bringing out the individual, in giving him a consciousness of his own being, and in quickening him to strengthen and elevate his own mind.” — William E. Channing

Beckie took D

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” — Frederick Douglass

Sadje took E

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” — Albert Einstein

Li took F

“It’s a very difficult era in which to be a person, just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless Automat of characters.”— Gillian Flynn

Jim took G

“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.” — Galileo

Punam took H

“Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics.” — Alex Haley

And Fandango (that’s me) took the letter I

“In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.”  — Lee Iacocca

I tag Jerry Brotherton (aka, The Backyard Poet) for the letter J.

The Sketch of Miss North

Fandango16 Comments

32624925-325A-4FF5-91A7-6C24CA976ACAWhen I was in high school, my nickname was “Doodles” because I was always doodling. My notebooks were filled with my doodles and drawings. I would sit through lectures and scribble whatever popped into my head, sometimes related to what the teacher was talking about and at other times totally unrelated.

If the teacher happened to walk toward my desk, I’d have to quickly slide the paper on which I was doodling beneath my other papers. But one day, I was too slow and my 10th grade biology teacher, Miss North, noticed my page of doodles. She bent down, grabbed it, and held it up. When she looked carefully at my doodle she gasped. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” she chided.

The next thing I knew, I found myself in the vice principal’s office. He gave me a stern look as examined my doodle. “Care to elaborate?” he asked.

“Well, Mr. Kaplan,” I said, “Miss North was giving us a lesson in human anatomy and as she was standing in the front of the class, I just began sketching her. She’s very pretty. She could be a model, you know.”

“Yes, I can see that it’s a sketch of Miss North,” Kaplan said, “But in your drawing, Miss North is not wearing any clothing.”

I turned red. “Yes, well you know how teenage boys can fantasize.”

The vice principal looked down at my sketch again. “Actually,” he said, “You captured the likeness of her body quite accurately.”

“And you know that how?” I asked Mr. Kaplan.

Now it was his turn to turn red.

Written for these daily prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (scribble), The Daily Spur (slide), Word of the Day Challenge (yourself), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (elaborate). Pencil sketch by Swedish-American artist Anna Poole.

Battery Boost

Fandango14 Comments

F45E8A07-0361-4B68-BC57-A157667DF79CAccording to my iPhone’s Screen Time tracker, I average between 9-10 hours a day looking at my iPhone’s screen. You might think that’s a lot, but while I do have a laptop, I hardly ever use it. And I don’t have an iPad. So I use my iPhone for everything connected, including WordPress.

In fact, about two-thirds of my screen time is spent on my blog — writing posts, responding to comments, and reading and commenting on the posts of others. When not on WordPress, I am checking my newsfeed, using Google to search the internet, sending and receiving emails and text messages, checking the weather, reading books on my Kindle app, and playing solitaire while watching the news on TV.

My iPhone, an 8 Plus, is almost two years old and its battery life ain’t what it used to be. Most days, by around three or four in the afternoon, the battery icon in the upper right corner of my screen turns red, a sign that my battery is down to the last 20% of its charge. But I’ve still got another 6-7 hours of awake time. I don’t want to put my iPhone down for two of those hours while it’s charging.

So I bought a battery charging case for my iPhone. Not only does it protect my iPhone, like any other case will do, but if I press a tiny little button on the back of the case, it starts charging my iPhone without it leaving my hand or me having to be near an electrical outlet to plug it in to get the battery charged. The charging case doubles my iPhone’s battery life. And it only cost $35 on Amazon!

Yeah! Now I can spend even more uninterrupted time with my eyes glued to my iPhone’s screen. Life is great, no?

#100WW — Wildfires

Fandango7 Comments

DBCA1D16-D8B0-4398-B592-C93F26D91E7EThe road is still closed. They said it would be under control by now, that we could all head back to our homes. But they were wrong. I can see by the yellow, orange, and gold glows of the night sky that the wildfires are still raging.

Many of the homes in my neighborhood — maybe even mine — have been lost to the flames. Personal possessions up in smoke. Precious memories destroyed.

They say it’s due to climate change. Higher temperatures and stronger winds create a landscape that allows fires to spread faster and farther.

This ain’t no hoax.

(100 words)

Written for this week’s 100 Word Wednesday prompt from Bikurgurl.

In Other Words — A House by the Beach

Fandango7 Comments

78710528-9A25-47BA-9651-5B2751D8A846

I dreamed of owning a large house by the beach

But the cost of that dream was always out of reach

A cabin way up high in the mountains would be nice

But there is no way I could afford to pay such a price

So I’m stuck living small in the city, such a pity.

In other wordsWritten for the In Other Words prompt from Patricia’s Place. The challenge this week is to write a story or poem of five lines or fewer using the picture above and/or the words “the beach.” Photo credit: seth0s from Pixabay.com.